South Africa
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Abolitionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · Under white minority rule, the apartheid-era National...
- News items in the archive
- 202
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
South Africa is classified as Abolitionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 202 news items on South Africa, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- FEBRUARY 11, 2000South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
The Botswanan High Court sentenced 49-year old Mariette...
The Botswanan High Court sentenced 49-year old Mariette Bosch, a South African woman, to death
- FEBRUARY 2, 2000South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
A petition calling for the re-introduction of the death...
A petition calling for the re-introduction of the death penalty was handed to Port Alfred magistrate Walter le Grange just before three men accused of the brutal murder of Cape Town businesswoman Brenda Fairhead and her 11-year-old daughter appeared in co
- JANUARY 21, 2000South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Family, friends and members of the community staged...
Family, friends and members of the community staged a demonstration in the grounds outside the Port Alfred Magistrate's Court when brothers Tom and Zolani Bongani appeared in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Brenda Fairhead and her 11-year-old
- JANUARY 20, 2000South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
More than 30 farm workers gathered in front of the...
More than 30 farm workers gathered in front of the Tzaneen District Court and held up placards demanding the death penalty, when seven suspects accused of killing farmer Bill Bouller appeared in court
- JANUARY 1, 2000South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
But there have been calls for its reintroduction in...
But there have been calls for its reintroduction in a country with a murder rate 10 times higher than that of the United States, making it one of the world's most violent places outside a war zone
- JANUARY 1, 2000South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Under white minority rule, the apartheid-era National...
Under white minority rule, the apartheid-era National Party, the New National Party's (NNP) predecessor, executed an average of about 100 people a year in the 1980s, peaking at 187 in 1987 when 21 people were hanged in a single week at Pretoria's notoriou
- JUNE 14, 1999South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
On June 14, Thabo Mbeki was formally elected President...
On June 14, Thabo Mbeki was formally elected President of South Africa by the 400-seat National Assembly, meeting for the first time since the June 2 general election that saw Mandela's African National Congress returned to power for a second 5-year term
- APRIL 28, 1999South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
South Africa was a cosponsor of the resolution on the...
South Africa was a cosponsor of the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 28 (1999/61)
- APRIL 28, 1999South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
On April 28, Andrew Ford, leader of the ultra-right-wing...
On April 28, Andrew Ford, leader of the ultra-right-wing Boere Weerstands Beweging (BWB), urged the Freedom Front to stop its calls for the reinstatement of the death penalty
- APRIL 24, 1999South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
On April 24, New National Party leader Marthinus van...
On April 24, New National Party leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk challenged Deputy President Thabo Mbeki to publicly debate the issue of the death penalty during their joint television appearance preceding the June 2 elections
- APRIL 19, 1999South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
On April 19, the Inkatha Freedom Party said numerous...
On April 19, the Inkatha Freedom Party said numerous surveys had shown that South Africans, irrespective of race, creed or color, were anxious about crime and believed the death penalty was an option
- APRIL 17, 1999South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
On April 17, South Africa's President-in-waiting Thabo...
On April 17, South Africa's President-in-waiting Thabo Mbeki rejected a return to the death penalty, despite a string of brutal crimes
- APRIL 14, 1999South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
On April 14, Vice-president of the African Christian...
On April 14, Vice-president of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) Louis Green said that the fight for the return of capital punishment and the abolition of legalized abortion will be the central pillars of the election campaign
- MARCH 31, 1999South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
On March 31, President Nelson Mandela said the death...
On March 31, President Nelson Mandela said the death penalty would not be restored while the African National Congress was in power because "slaughtering people" was not a solution to crime
- MARCH 11, 1999South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
On March 11, Simon Grindrod, founder of the Association...
On March 11, Simon Grindrod, founder of the Association for the Restoration of Capital Punishment (ARCAP) said, "the question of the death penalty could be part of the ballot paper and a simple tick in a yes or no box is all that would be necessary for th
- MARCH 1, 1999South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
On March 1, Federal Alliance leader Louis Luyt said...
On March 1, Federal Alliance leader Louis Luyt said the upcoming general election was a referendum on the death penalty
- FEBRUARY 9, 1999South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
On February 9, Federal Alliance spokesman Jan Bosman...
On February 9, Federal Alliance spokesman Jan Bosman said that the Government's idea of releasing 2000 more "petty" criminals showed that the Government was not serious about the war on crime, and was soft on crime itself
- FEBRUARY 4, 1999South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
On February 4, South African opposition parties called...
On February 4, South African opposition parties called for the reintroduction of the death penalty following the shooting of Daewoo executive Y
- FEBRUARY 1, 1999South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
On February 1, the Mpumalanga Agricultural Union President...
On February 1, the Mpumalanga Agricultural Union President Lourie Bosman called for the reinstatement of the death penalty after Anna van der Berg was murdered in front of her Steynsdraai farmhouse near Carolina on January 30, by unidentified attackers wh
- JANUARY 19, 1999South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
On January 19, former rugby strongman Louis Luyt, who...
On January 19, former rugby strongman Louis Luyt, who now heads the Federal Alliance, said crime was reaching crisis proportions in South Africa and challenged the statistics released by Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi's office, which pointed
- JANUARY 1, 1999South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Under white minority rule, the apartheid-era National...
Under white minority rule, the apartheid-era National Party, the New National Party's (NNP) predecessor, executed an average of about 100 people a year in the 1980s, peaking at 187 in 1987 when 21 people were hanged in a single week at Pretoria's notoriou
- JANUARY 1, 1999South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
South Africa is one of the most crime plagued countries...
South Africa is one of the most crime plagued countries in the world with an annual murder rate of 52 people per 100,000 of the population and 104 rapes per 100,000, according to figures compiled by the South African Police